News and information

Donald Trump is about to go to war

With the President-elect just weeks from assuming the mantle as the commander-in-chief, he has one group in his sights.

Get ready for an epic clash when Donald Trump finally assumes the presidency in late January. Scientists and environmentalists have mobilized significantly since his election fearing that he will roll back any progress made on climate change, and Trump looks ready to do battle himself.

Petitions and open letters have spilled out of academia and environmental research organizations in recent weeks as fear mounts that Trump, who has called global warming a hoax invented by the Chinese, will undo all the good that has been done to fight climate change, including the vital Paris climate agreement signed by dozens of countries last year.

One petition by more than 11,000 female scientists demands that he respect inclusiveness, another by two dozen Nobel laureates ask Trump to defend scientific integrity.

But if the campaign is any indication, Trump is unlikely to pay much attention to these appeals. He’s already appointed Myron Ebell, a climate change denier, as the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The million-dollar question is whether President Obama’s policies can hold up to Trump’s attempted dismantling over the next four years, or if it will all unravel in the next four years.

“In this new era of anti-science and misinformation, we as women scientists re-affirm our commitment to build a more inclusive society and scientific enterprise,” according to a statement from 500 Women Scientists, an advocacy group. “We reject the hateful rhetoric that was given a voice during the U.S. presidential election and which targeted minority groups, women, LGBTQIA, immigrants, and people with disabilities, and attempted to discredit the role of science in our society. Many of us feel personally threatened by this divisive and destructive rhetoric and have turned to each other for understanding, strength, and a path forward. We are members of racial, ethnic, and religious minority groups. We are immigrants. We are people with disabilities. We are LGBTQIA. We are scientists. We are women.”